It is known in the water distribution industry that diaphragms are used in Automatic Control Valves, a standard piece of hardware of the industry, for two purposes: First, diaphragms, being made of a rubber-like material form a flexible barrier between two chambers of the valve in order to hydraulically actuate a closing plate to move against an orifice. Second, the diaphragm is used to seal a removable cover to the main body of the valve such that the inside of the valve may be serviced without the necessity of removing the main body from the pipeline. For to do so, requires a large expenditure of both time and labor.
Diaphragms, in use today, serve as a sealing mechanism, but they rely on some type of external fixation means to apply the sealing force. The most common mechanism for applying such pressure is a series of uniformly spaced bolts disposed around the periphery of the diaphragm and fastened to a pair of flanges, one on each side of the diaphragm. Each of said bolts has a predefined finite tensile strength and thus, through relatively easy math, the force being applied can be determined.
One of the problems associated with such fixation means is that as the pressure exerted against the cover of the Automatic Control Valve, (ACV) the amount of predetermined tensile strength remaining decreases. Thus as the water pressure increases, the less the sealing potential, often leading to leaks and failure of the seal.
An industry standard diaphragm having a plurality of uniformly disposed bores therethrough around the periphery of the diaphragm for the reception of such previously described bolts is shown in FIG. 1 and labeled prior art.
A groove coupler is an industry standard sealing device which can be used in conjunction with a chamfered rubber gasket to form a seal which increases, not decreases, in sealing potential as the water pressure increases. A groove coupler operates in a fashion similar to a waffle iron in that a closure mechanism keeps two halves of the coupler closed tight under presser, and when the closure is released, the pressure is removed and the two halves, often pivotally connected opposite the closure can be opened. Such couplers are shown in at least one of the figures, and are offered by several manufacturers.
Whereas current diaphragms rely primarily on the use of the externally disposed ring of bolts to maintain sealing strength, the device of this invention relies on its unique configuration, in conjunction with the operation of the groove coupler to maintain sealing strength.
It is an object therefore of this invention to provide a combination groove coupler seal & diaphragm.
It is another object to provide a new sealing device that operates with an industry standard groove coupler.
It is still another object to provide a sealing diaphragm which permits lower cost field service of valves due to the reduction of the number of bolts to be undone and retightened by the field personnel,
It is yet another object to provide a valve sealing mechanism that is lower in cost of production.
It is a further object to provide a combination seal and diaphragm that is easy to use and takes less time to install than conventional diaphragms.
It is still another object to provide a combination seal & diaphragm that may be fabric reinforced or without such fabric, and also to provide such diaphragm seals either with or without a convolute for extra flexing capacity.
Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the device possessing the features properties and the relation of components which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be made to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.